Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.

Saturday, 15 June 2013

The short answer is Iran and Hezbollah according to Congressional sources. “The Syrian army’s victory at al-Qusayr was more than the administration could accept given that town’s strategic position in the region. Its capture by the Assad forces has essentially added Syria to Iran’s list of victories starting with Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, as well as its growing influence in the Gulf.”

Other sources are asserting that Obama actually did not want to invoke direct military aid the rebels fighting to topple the Assad government or even to make use of American military power in Syria for several reasons. Among these are the lack of American public support for yet another American war in the Middle East, the fact that there appears to be no acceptable alternative to the Assad government on the horizon, the position of the US intelligence community and the State Department and Pentagon that intervention in Syria would potentially turn out very badly for the US and gut what’s left of its influence in the region. It short, that the US getting involved in Syria could turn out even worse than Iraq, by intensifying a regional sectarian war without any positive outcome in sight.

Obama was apparently serious earlier about a negotiated diplomatic settlement pre-Qusayr and there were even some positives signs coming from Damascus, Moscow, and even Tehran John Kerry claimed. But that has changed partly because Russia and the US have both hardened their demands. Consequently, the Obama administration has now essentially thrown in the towel on the diplomatic track. This observer was advised by more than one Congressional staffer that Obama’s team has concluded that the Assad government was not getting their message or taking them seriously and that Assad’s recent military gains and rising popular support meant that a serious Geneva II initiative was not going to happen.

In addition, Obama has been weakened recently by domestic politics and a number of distractions and potential scandals not least of which is the disclosures regarding the massive NSA privacy invasion. In addition, the war lobby led by Senators McClain and Lindsay Graham is still pounding their drums and claim that Obama would be in violation of his oath of office and by jeopardizing the national security interest of the United States by allowing Iran to essentially own Syria once Assad quells the uprising.” Both Senators welcomed the chemical weapons assessment. For months they have been saying that Obama has not been doing enough to help the rebels. “U.S. credibility is on the line,” they said in a joint statement this week. “Now is not the time to merely take the next incremental step. Now is the time for more decisive actions,” they said, such as using long-range missiles to degrade Assad’s air power and missile capabilities. Another neo-con, Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) said the opposition forces risk defeat without heavier weapons, but he also warned that may not be enough. “The U.S. should move swiftly to shift the balance on the ground in Syria by considering grounding the Syrian air force with stand-off weapons and protecting a safe zone in northern Syria with Patriot missiles in Turkey,” Casey said.According to some analysts, Obama could alternatively authorize the arming and training of the Syrian opposition in Jordan without a no-fly zone. That appears unlikely according to this observers Washington interlocutors because the Pentagon wants to end the Syrian crisis by summers end, the observer was advised “rather than working long term with a motley bunch of jihadists who we could never trust or rely on. The administration has come to the conclusion apparently that if they are in for a penny they are in for a pound, meaning would not allow Iran to control Syria and Hezbollah to pocket Lebanon.”

Secretary of State Kerry had meetings with more than two dozen military specialists on 5/13/13. The Washington Post is reporting that Kerry believes supplying the rebels with weapons might be too little and too late to actually flip the balance on the Syrian ground and this calls “for a military strike to paralyze Al-Assad’s military capacities.” A Pentagon source reported that the USA, France, and Britain are considering a decisive decision to reverse the current Assad momentum and quickly construct one in favor of the rebels” within a time period not exceeding the end of this summer.

Shortly after the meetings began, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia quickly returned to Saudi Arabia from his palace at Casa Blanca, Morocco after receiving a call from his intelligence chief, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan. Bander reportedly had a representative at the White House during the meetings with President Obama’s team. King Abdullah was reportedly advised by Kerry to be prepared for a rapid expansion of the growing regional conflict.What happens between now and the end of summer is likely to be catastrophic for the Syrian public and perhaps Lebanon. The “chemical weapons-red line” is not taken seriously on Capitol Hill for the reason that the same “inclusive evidence” of months ago is the same that is suddenly being cited to justify what may become essentially an all-out war against the Syrian government and anyone who gets in the way. Hand wringing over the loss of 125 lives due to chemical weapons, whoever did use them, pales in comparison to the more 50,000 additional lives that will be lost in the coming months, a figure that Pentagon planners and the White House have “budgeted” as the price of toppling the Assad government.

“We are going to see a rapid escalation of the conflict”, a staffer on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee emailed this observer: “The president has made a decision to give whatever humanitarian aid, as well as political and diplomatic support to the opposition that in necessary. Additionally direct support to the (Supreme Military Council), will be provided and that includes military support.” The staffer quoted the words of Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes to the media on 5/13/13 to the same effect.

A part of this “humanitarian assistance” the US is going to established in the coming weeks a “limited, humanitarian no-fly zone, that will begin along several miles of the Jordanian and Turkish borders in certain military areas into Syrian territory, and would be set up and presented as a limited bid to train and equip rebel forces and protect refugees. But in reality, as we saw in Libya a Syrian no fly zone would very likely include all of Syria.

Libya’s no-fly zones made plain that there is no such thing as a “limited zone”. Put briefly, a “no-fly zone” means essentially a declaration of all-out war. Once the US and its allies start a no fly zone they will expand it and intensify it as they take countless other military actions to protect its zones until the Syrian government falls. “It’s breathtaking to contemplate how this in going to end and how Iran and Russia will respond,” one source concluded.

The White House is trying to assuage the few in Congress as well as a majority of the American public that it can be a limited American involved and that the no-fly zone would not require the destruction of Syrian antiaircraft batteries. This is more nonsense. During the no-fly zone I witnessed from Libya in the summer of 2011 the US backed it up with all manner of refueling, electronic jamming, special-ops on the ground and by mid-July a kid peddling his bike was not safe. Over the 192 days of patrolling the Libyan no-fly zones, NATO countries flew 24,682 sorties including 9,204 bomb strike sorties. NATO claimed it never missed its target but that was also not true. Hundreds of civilians were killed in Libya by no-fly zone attack aircraft that either missed their targets and emptied their bomb bays before returning to base while conducting approximately 48 bombing strikes per day using a variety of bombs and missiles, including more than 350 cruise Tomahawks.

At a Congressional hearing in 2011, then US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates got it right when he explained which discussing Libya “a no-fly zone begins with an attack to destroy all the air defenses … and then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that’s the way it starts.”

According to the accounts published in American media, Obama could alternatively authorize the arming and training of the Syrian opposition in Jordan without a no-fly zone. That appears unlikely because the Pentagon wants to end the Syrian crisis by summers end, the observer was advised “rather than working long term with a motley bunch of jihadists who we could never trust or rely on. The administration has come to the conclusion apparently that if they are in for a penny they are in for a pound.”

In response to a question from this observer about how he thought event might unfold in this region over the coming months, a very insightful long-term congressional aid replied: “Well Franklin, maybe someone will pull a rabbit out of the hat to stop the push for war. But frankly I doubt it. From where I sit I’d wager that Syria as we have known it may soon be no more. And perhaps some other countries in the region also.”

Franklin Lamb is doing research in Syria and Lebanon and can be reached c/o fplamb@gmail.com

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed that the resistance will be where it should, assuring that the struggle in Syria is between two projects and not between two sects.

During a ceremony held by Hezbollah for the occasion of the Injured Fighter Day, Sayyed Nasrallah said that post-Qusayr stage is the same of pre-Qusayr since no change in developments taking place in Syria.

In this context, he stressed that the accusations of unbelief launched by Takfiris will not change the position of the resistance, and “who thinks that he can force us to change our stance through killing and terrifying is mistaken.”

As he said that the resistance is not interested in the battle taking place in Syria, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah should be engaged in this battle since it is aimed at destroying the whole region, not only Syria.

His eminence pointed out that Hezbollah is the last side to take part in the Syrian fight, since there are many Lebanese parties, including al-Mustaqbal party, who were engaged in the struggle before.

Clear View for the Crisis in SyriaSayyed Nasrallah said that since the start of the crisis in Syria Hezbollah had a clear view that there was a scheme that has repercussions on Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, the region, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sunnites and the Shiites.

His eminence pointed out that the resistance through its decisions is defending Lebanon, its land and its state.

The resistance leader stressed that what’s coming on in Syria is not between a regime and people, saying: “This issue is over. There are sides who don’t care for the people killed, they just want for the regime to fall. They imagine that the alternative for this regime is another one. However the alternative is the chaos.”

His eminence noted that the Syrian people are parted, some is with the regime and the other is against it, adding: “And we are with the regime. We are also with reforms.”

“We are with people who call for reforms, whether they are with the regime or against it. However we are against those who are destroying Syria,” Sayyed Nasrallah told crowds.

On the other hand, he said that talks about starting to arm the Syrian opposition is false since providing arms to the foreign-backed militants who are fighting the Syrian government is taking place since long ago.

Hezbollah The Latest Side to Take Part in Syria Fight
Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah was the latest Lebanese side to take part in the Syrian fight, noting that many other parties have been engaged in the Syrian crisis even before Hezbollah was.

“We didn’t keep our participation in the Syrian fight a secret. We didn’t say that we are offering milk and blankets,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, referring to al-Mustaqbal party MP Oqab Saqr who denied that his party is engaged in the Syrian crisis.

“… And if our fighters are killed in the battle in Syria we don’t burry them there and silence their families in Lebanon,” Sayyed Nasrallah added.

Sayyed Nasrallah also assured that the struggle in Syria is not sectarian, noting that those who are presenting it as a sectarian struggle are weak. He called for exerting efforts in a bid to face some Arab channels which are inciting for sedition and giving the struggle sectarian explanations through fabrications.

“We won’t change our position through fabrications, killing and terrifying,” his eminence said, noting that post-Qusayr is the same stage as pre-Qusayr.

He said that the other side of the struggle is determined to go ahead with it, stressing that the resistance is to be where it should be as it will hold the responsibility it had held from the beginning of the crisis.

Sayyed Nasrallah also pointed out that Hezbollah is ready to debate over Syria, noting in this context that some sides are offering initiatives that need to be discussed.

Call for Self RestraintTalking about the Local issues, the resistance leader said that there nothing new concerning the issue of the elections, noting that the Lebanese are awaiting the decision of the constitutional council to know if the elections are to take place or not.

His eminence urged the utmost degrees of self restraint and the avoidance of any form of fight and tension.

“We urge the Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians who are in the Lebanese territories to practice the utmost degrees of self restraint, especially the crowds of the resistance.”

He also slammed what some Lebanese people are doing of shooting bullets in the air, saying that this action is being a noticeably increasing in Lebanon. His eminence called for the halt of this phenomenon, saying it’s rejected since it harm and bother others.

“The phenomenon of shooting in the air has noticeably increased nowadays and during every occasion,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding: “we asked clerics across Iran and Iraq about the issue of shooting in the air. The only answer was that it is forbidden to do so.”

Concerning the rockets fired on some Bekaa towns, Sayyed Nasrallah said that some media outlets are circulating rumors that these rockets are fired from the town of Ersal, in a bid to explain the issue by sectarian means.

Hi eminence stressed that rockets fired on Sareen, Baalbeck and Hernel were not from Ersal, saying that armed groups in Syria are who are firing them and promising that this issue will be over soon.

He warned in this context that media outlets along with intelligence services are working hard to incite sedition between Sunnites and Shiites.

Resistance Saved LebanonTalking about the occasion, Sayyed Nasrallah saluted the injured fighters along with their families who sacrificed for the sake of their country, stressing that Lebanon was liberated thanks to resistance and its fighters.

“The resistance, with this sacrifice, liberated Lebanon from the Israeli occupation. It saved Lebanon and its history should not be forgotten.”

In this context his eminence warned that “there is a huge media campaign which is working to defame the image and the history of the resistance.”

The resistance leader dismissed talks about uprooting Hezbollah of the Lebanese structure as saying: “We were born here, we were grown up here, we lived here and we will be buried here… No one can root us up.”

“One of the most powerful armies in the world was crushed by our fighters in Bint Jbeil, Maroun Ras… Who are these stupid people who are talking about rooting us up?”

Iranian Elections: Festival of DemocracyMeanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah congratulated the Iranian leadership and the nation for the high public turnout in the Islamic Republic 11th presidential elections.

"I want to congratulate Imam Khamenei and the Iranian nation for this festival of democracy, because this democracy strengthens the right positions in the region," he said.

"Through this democracy, the Leader with all his powers has only one vote and the other Iranian citizens of different ethnicities are also at the same level. They participate in the election for the future of their country."

His eminence hoped that some Arab countries witness similar democracy.

A US government report concluding Syria has used chemical weapons against militants is a fabrication, a senior Russian lawmaker said Friday.

“Information about the usage of chemical weapons by [Syrian President Bashar] Assad is fabricated in the same way as the lie about [Saddam] Hussein's weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq],” Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian lower house of parliament’s international affairs committee, said on Twitter.

US President Barack Obama “is going the same way” as former President George W. Bush did then, Pushkov said.
The White House said on Thursday it now believes with “high confidence” that Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons many times during the two-year conflict there, and vowed to boost US aid to the armed opposition fighting to remove Assad from power.
White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama had decided to provide further support, including military support, for Syrian opposition forces as a result of its conclusion that government forces has used such chemical weapons.

Unconvincing Claims
Russia President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy adviser said Friday that claims by the United States on use of chemical weapons was "unconvincing" and warned that direct military aid to militants would hurt peace efforts.
“The information that has been presented, the facts that have been presented do not look convincing to us,” Yury Ushakov told reporters.
Ushakov said the chances of holding a Syrian peace conference that Russia and the United States proposed jointly on May 7 would be hurt by Obama's decision to provide military support for the opposition.

NATO Urges UN Inspection
In response, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday welcomed a “clear” US statement accusing the Syrian regime of using chemical weapons and said Damascus must let the UN investigate the allegations.
“I welcome clear US statement. Urgent that Syria regime should let UN investigate all reports of chemical weapons use,” he said on his official Twitter feed. He said the international community had made clear that the use of chemical weapons was “completely unacceptable” and a “breach of international law”.

“NATO Patriots will ensure effective protection of Turkey against any Syria missile attack, chemical or not,” he said, referring to the air defense missiles that NATO has stationed in Turkey.

Syria on Friday slammed Washington's claims that it had used chemical weapons in its fight against militant opposition groups, accusing the United States of "lies" based on "fabricated information".

"The White House published a statement full of lies about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, based on fabricated information, through which it is trying to hold the Syrian government responsible for such use," state news agency SANA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying.

The official said the US claims came "after reports affirming that armed terrorist groups active in Syria are in possession of deadly chemical weapons and the technology necessary to make them".
Washington said on Thursday there was evidence that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons including sarin nerve gas in its military operations.

The US administration announced it will provide "military support" to the terrorist groups active over the Syrian territories, a decision condemned Moscow, Berlin and Damascus.
"The American decision to arm armed terrorist groups demonstrates... the direct involvement of the United States in the Syrian bloodbath," the official stressed.

"This raises serious questions about their good intention when it comes to finding a political solution in Syria," the official added.
Washington and Moscow have been spearheading efforts to organize a conference in Geneva to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict. However, the US decision to provide Syrian opposition with arms will probably hinder any possible peace efforts.
Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors of orchestrating the conflict, by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.

Lebanese women wave Hezbollah flags while holding a picture of the movement's chief Hassan Nasrallah in Mashghara in the western Bekaa Valley on 25 May 2013 during a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon. (Photo: AFP - Mahmoud Zayyat)

Published Monday, June 10, 2013A great number of Hezbollah's opponents have transformed into sworn enemies bent on the group’s destruction. This could signal a confrontation, whose theater will be my small country or my bigger one.
Many victims could fall. And since the situation is extremely dangerous, I find myself, once again, compelled to attempt an explanation of Hezbollah's current reality.

Those who want to act rationally will hopefully understand and listen to what I say, even if they decide to go ahead with the final confrontation.
Today, Hezbollah is a major regional power.

It has been so for the past decade. With the liberation of 2000 and Israel's defeat in Gaza, then the US defeat in Iraq, followed by the failure of the plan to control Lebanon after the assassination of Rafik Hariri, then the July 2006 war, Hezbollah went through – or was forced into – several trials and theaters. It expanded its expertise, increased its influence, and doubled its capacity.

Knowingly and unknowingly, Hezbollah became synonymous with the rejection of all things US and Europe, whether Arab or not.
In addition, Hezbollah has institutions comparable to those of states, not local organizations. It has a structure allowing it to function in all aspects of life.

Notwithstanding its ability to succeed here or there, Hezbollah is now a security and military force, which represents a fulcrum in the axis against the West and its acolytes in the region.
With the expansion of its multifarious capacities, Hezbollah is now a source of power for all those who stand by it. This is what the Palestinians realized in their conflict with the Israeli occupation. It is what the Iraqi resistance against the US occupation found out. And now, it is what the Syrian army is experiencing against the armed groups.

In each experience, Hezbollah, which learned and absorbed a great deal of the Israeli enemy's experience, knows how to recast a threat into an opportunity and a crisis into an opening for a new reality.
What is most important in those experiences is Hezbollah's ability to produce the appropriate political discourse for each stage. Therefore it can introduce mechanisms allowing it to continue mobilizing a new generation for its forces. After a quarter of a century of military experience, its fighters are still in their early twenties.

Does anyone who wants a feud imagine what it means in real life, being able to maintain the ability to renew one's human military capacity? And what if this went hand in hand with an enormous burgeoning at the level of military systems, security capabilities, and logistical capacity?

Today, Hezbollah is abhorred by a not-so-small number of Arabs and Muslims. Yet it does not worry about its popular legitimacy. It never linked its struggles or position with obtaining prior approval from those who everyone knows are not fit to hire a government employee, let alone make a strategic choice.
This issue helped the party avoid the kind of collapse that faces political forces based on such calculations.

They wither as soon as the cover of this or that state is lifted.
However, when Hezbollah decided, openly and blatantly, to penetrate the heart of the battle against the armed groups in Syria, it did so with awareness of its new role. It is not an objective reaction or a tit-for-tat service provided to the Syrian regime after a quarter century of support.

The new role of Hezbollah is to lead a Levantine – if not Arab – current, aiming to redraw the political, economic, and social map of a country of 75 million Arabs. Hezbollah can be a lever, but cannot produce a complete transformation and never claimed so.
Common sense says that this mission seeks to regain the individual and collective rights of Arabs to resist the occupation of the US, Israel, or their agents in the Levant. The mission aims to revive the real national identity of all Arabs.

In the first phase, it requires the elimination of all narrow viewpoints, whether we call it "an independent national decision" or "my country first." This means all of the people of the Levant, from Palestine and Jordan, to Lebanon and Syria, to Iraq, Turkey, and the Arabian Gulf.
As a consequence, I advise anyone who wants to get rid of Hezbollah to start acting as if the issue is no longer related to military and security groups, a neighborhood or two, or a border strip monitored by an international police force or the like.

I am speaking of a current with a mix of leftists and Syrian and Arab nationalists. It has a tremendous base of poor who aspire for full independence that protects their cultural and social diversity, before the political and the administrative. It is this diversity that will eliminate the thought of takfiris led by the Saudis and their relatives.
This is Hezbollah's new address. Get to know it well – God forbid – before you begin fighting it.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

The victory of the Syrian Arab Army in the Qoussair region is not an exception but a confirmed general trend. Terrorist and Takfirist gangs are collapsing due to the decline of popular support for armed rebellion. Indisputable historical rule is that any military force, even if it is a powerful, large and well equipped army, loses its resilience if it no longer enjoys a favorable social environment. So could we say for bloodthirsty mercenaries groups, coming from 82 different countries who commit the worst crimes against the local population. The latest being Sunday, the execution of a 15 years old child before his family for blasphemy (see below). Moreover, the Syrian people have discovered that these groups are closely related to Israel. Commenting on the situation in Syria, the head of German intelligence services, quoted by Der Spiegel, said that the Syrian army would continue its advance to regain control of most parts of Syria the next three months. This evaluation confirms information saying that the Qatari Hamad bin Jassem expressed before President Barack Obama fears of a victory of the Syrian state over takfirist gangs that Qatari leaders have created, trained and funded.

The great imbalance of forces in Syria in favor of the national state appears more clearly now. The growing popularity of President Bashar al-Assad is no longer a secret. Even Nato’s reports claim that nearly two-thirds of Syrians support their president. It is obvious that this survey, commissioned by members of NATO, has been achieved in areas that are not beyond the control of the State.

These realities resulting from the attachment of a majority of Syrians to their State, the independence of their country and their army. The fact that the hegemonic project used as its main tool takfiris groups allowed the Syrians to quickly understand the nature of the Western conspiracy targeting their homeland. The Western project broke on a block crossing religious communities, which includes a majority of Sunnis and Eastern Christians, who have Arab and national choices. If this block does not exist in Syria, the state would have collapsed long ago.

The events in Turkey are an additional expression of successive defeats for the anti-Syrian alliance. They are reflected in the helplessness and confusion that characterize the action of the United States. The purge carried out by Barack Obama in his administration is a proof: Hillary Clinton, David Petraeus, Robert Ford … many figures that have disappeared from the scene.

One year after the Geneva agreement, it is clear that the United States, the retrograde Gulf monarchies and the neo-Ottoman government, have exhausted all possibilities to intensify their aggression against Syria. But despite the huge resources deployed, this alliance was stopped by the resistance of the Syrian national state, its army and people, not to mention the determination and strong will of President Bashar al-Assad. Strong regional and international alliances built by Syria in recent decades have also been a major asset which has strengthened the resilience of the country.

Erdogan defies demonstrators

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday his Islamic-rooted government was open to “democratic demands” as he hit back at EU criticism of his handling of a week of deadly unrest.

Erdogan accused international allies of double standards after European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule called for a “swift and transparent” probe into police abuses against anti-government protesters in Turkey, a longtime EU hopeful.

“Peaceful demonstrations constitute a legitimate way for these groups to express their views,” Fule said at an Istanbul conference attended by Erdogan. “Excessive use of force by police against these demonstrations has no place in such a democracy.”

In a sharp retort, the combative premier said: “In any European country, whenever there is a violent protest against a demolition project like this, believe me, those involved face a harsher response.”

Turkey’s trouble began when police cracked down heavily on a small campaign to save Istanbul’s Gezi Park, spiralling into nationwide demos against Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP), seen as increasingly authoritarian.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators, injuring thousands and leaving three dead in mass unrest that has thrown up the biggest challenge to Erdogan’s decade in power.

Erdogan, who has dismissed the demonstrators as vandals and extremists, on Friday said that he was “against violence”, adding in a more conciliatory tone: “I’m open-hearted to anyone with democratic demands.”

Defying Erdogan’s latest call to end the protests, thousands massed peacefully on Istanbul’s Taksim Square for an eighth night, gathering in a festive atmosphere to a soundtrack of drums and pipe music. Large crowds also took to the streets of the capital Ankara, with no reports of confrontation.

“We need democracy in Turkey, that’s why we come to Taksim Square,” Burhan Ozdemirci, 30, told AFP as he sipped a beer on the square, the epicenter of the protests.

Bracing for Erdogan’s reaction to their continued demonstrations, many said they felt safe in Taksim, which has seen no police presence since police pulled out of the site last Saturday.

“Taksim is our palace,” said 21-year-old student Eray Dilek, adding that he was more nervous for protesters gathering in other cities.

In a bid to boost their profile, supporters of the protest movement raised more than $100,000 in an online fundraising drive to run a full-page ad in the New York Times Friday to explain why the demonstrators are so furious.

“People of Turkey have spoken: we will not be oppressed,” read the ad, saying that during Erdogan’s 10 years in power Turks have seen their civil rights and freedoms erode, with many journalists, artists and elected officials arrested.

Erdogan has likened the trouble in Turkey to the Occupy Wall Street movement that sprang up in the United States in 2011 and inspired copycat protests in European cities.

But the US embassy in Ankara wrote on its Twitter feed on Friday: “No US deaths resulted from police actions in #OWS.”

Erdogan’s slightly softer stance appeared to calm investors on Friday. The Istanbul stock exchange’s main index partially recovered heavy falls earlier in the week to close 3.21 percent higher.

Analysts warn that the unrest risks scaring off the foreign financing on which Turkey’s recent economic development has largely relied.

The national doctors’ union says 4,785 people have been injured in the countrywide protests, 48 of them severely.

The unrest has left three people dead — two young protesters and a policeman, according to officials and doctors.

Jailed Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan on Friday voiced his support for the anti-government protests, despite his involvement in peace talks with the Turkish authorities (AFP).

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Statements

Vladimir Putin, Russian president

«The contract (on advanced S-300 air defense) was signed a few years ago but it hasn’t been fulfilled yet. We don’t want to upset the balance in the region. Russian arms sales to Syria are carried out based on transparent, internationally recognized contracts. They don’t violate any international provisions. Russia is dissatisfied with the EU decision to relax the arms embargo on Syria. The question of participation by the opposition in the Geneva conference should be resolved as soon as possible. As is known, the Syrian leadership already officially declared its agreement to take part in the work.»

Ayman Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda Leader

«Lions of the Levant, unite around this honorable goal and rise above sectarian affiliations. America, its agents and allies want you to shed your blood and the blood of your children and women to bring down the criminal Baathist regime, and then set up a government loyal to them and to safeguard Israel’s security. Every free Muslim in Palestine should unite with his Muslim brothers to implement Sharia (Islamic law) and rule by it, and make it a reference above all references, and to liberate Palestine in order to set up an Islamic state, even if the West hates that and calls it terrorism and extremism.»

Nawaf Moussaoui, Hezbollah MP

«If Takfirist groups are victorious, there will be no more Lebanon. The country will be divided, there will be massacres, and some of the communities will be displaced. If we want to defend Lebanon, we must not allow these groups to take control of Syria. That is why we are fighting there to defend the unity of Syria and thereby to defend the unity of Lebanon. The conflict in Syria is not a battle for political reform and for the establishment of a democracy. This is much more serious than some imagine. It is a US-Israeli war involving European governments and Arab regimes, with the aim to bring down the government in Syria.»

Walid Jumblatt, Progressive Socialist Party leader

«I believe in the principle of Hezbollah’s participation in the government, whether directly or indirectly, since it is not possible to isolate anyone or abolish anyone. Forming a new government has become highly necessary in order to move differences from the streets and tackle them on the Cabinet table.»

Ali Awad Asiri, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Lebanon

«It is important for all Saudis present in Lebanon to return to their country for their own safety as noted in the travel advisory issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council Wednesday. The embassy sent a text message to all citizens who have a Saudi mobile number in Lebanon to inform them of the country’s concerns over their security and safety.»

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Events

A new video has surfaced allegedly filmed in Syria that shows a group of rebels, some of them speaking Flemish, use a large knife to behead a man. The rebels, chanting “God is great,” first try to slice the man’s head off, but then begin hacking at his throat after failing to make a clean cut. The Flemish-speakers, who may be among the hundred or so Belgians believed to have joined the fight against Syria’s government, are heard complaining that the knife is dull, according to a translation of the video. A recent report by King’s College London has said up to 600 people from 14 European countries, including Austria, Britain, Germany, Spain and Sweden had taken part in the Syria conflict since it began in March 2011. The largest single contingent was from Britain but based on population, the figures for Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands were the most significant, with around 200 between them.

Islamist rebels fighting the Syrian regime shot dead a 15-year-old child in front of his parents and siblings Sunday after accusing him of blasphemy, a monitoring group said. “An unidentified Islamist rebel group shot dead a 15-year-old child who worked as a coffee seller in the northern city of Aleppo, after they accused him of blasphemy,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman. Abdel Rahman said the rebel group likely comprised foreign jihadists. “They spoke classical Arabic, not Syrian dialect,” he told AFP. “They shot the boy twice — once in the mouth, another in his neck — in front of his mother, his father and his siblings,” he added.

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Press review

As Safir (Lebanese daily, Arab nationalist, June 6, 2013)

Marlene KhaliféIt will not be easy for Britain and France to realize their ambitions by registering what the two countries called the “military wing” of Hezbollah on the European list of terrorist organizations. Both countries put pressure in this direction, supported by some European states, while others, such as Austria, Finland and Ireland are opposed.

The influence and the integrity of the European Court of Justice, as well as its ability to curb the political wishes of some countries have slow the British proposal. A European expert believes that the most important is to answer one question: “If Hezbollah is placed on the list of terrorist organizations, what is the charge against him? If the charge is related on the attack of Burgas, the European Union will be obliged by the European court to disclose evidence. The European decision is not only political, since it also has a legal dimension which further complications.

What about the involvement of Hezbollah fighting in Syria? Is it not a proof that can be invoked to justify the inclusion of the party on this list? The expert said that “participation in combat is not a terrorist act. A war is going on in Syria and several parties, including Hezbollah are participating. Therefore, this matter cannot be evidence of the terrorist nature of the party. “

The European expert said that the only possible explanation for the change the French attitude is the participation of Hezbollah in Qoussair fighting. “This motif is facing an obstacle: “Hezbollah is fighting Front al-Nosra, classified as a terrorist organization. How could we the tax Hezbollah of terrorism when it is facing a recognized terrorist organization. “The same expert adds the jest:” The Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, belong it to the political class or the military wing “of Hezbollah?

An Nahar (Lebanese Daily close to 14-Mars coalition)

Pierre Atallah (June 5, 2013)

The visit to France of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Yuhanna Yazigi, hasn’t led to any concrete results concerning the fate of two bishops Boulos Yazigi and Yuhanna Ibrahim, abducted in Syria. Many conflicting reports about the fate of the two prelates circulates in Lebanon. A delegation of residents of the Syrian city of Aleppo visited the Embassy of France, as Paris is the leading country in supporting the opposition Syrian. The Ambassador promised to send the information to Paris.

Al Akhbar (Lebanese Daily close to the Lebanese Resistance, June 7, 2013)

Zainab Hawi

Many Arab satellite channels are in denial over news of a Syrian army victory in Qusayr. For the past several weeks, Qusayr had been a top news item on the major channels, as networks hosted military experts to shed light on the battles between the Syrian regime and its opposition. Yet once images confirming an opposition defeat began to surface, the channels adopted a unilateral discourse of sectarian incitement.

The networks launched a campaign to justify the fighters’ withdrawal from the city, framing it in terms of asymmetrical military power.

One day before the Syrian army regained control of Qusayr, George Sabra, the acting president of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), issued an appeal to Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri to open “safe corridors in order to evacuate the wounded inside Qusayr.” Sabra warned of a massacre if this did not happen.

On satellite channels, Sabra’s appeal transformed into propaganda used to downplay this strategic military achievement.

Stations like al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, and Future TV claimed the regime and Hezbollah had committed a massacre that killed hundreds. Future TV went even further, claiming that the battle was still raging.

Free Syrian Army (FSA) spokesperson Fahd al-Masry – who couldn’t confirm to al-Jadeed whether he was in Paris or somewhere along the Lebanese-Syrian border – made several appearances on local and satellite channels. He denied that the Syrian army regained control of Qusayr and claimed that the live images were either fabricated or pulled from the archives. Luay al-Miqdad, FSA media and political coordinator, promised al-Arabiya’s viewers “surprises at night.” Miqdad downplayed the progress made ​​by the Syrian army, arguing that it only advanced in certain areas.

Hezbollah’s satellite channel al-Manar was among the first stations to air images from inside Qusayr, along with al-Mayadeen reporters.

Al Akhbar (June 6, 2013)

Radwan Mortada

With surprising speed, Syrian government forces overran the last opposition positions in northern Qusayr on Wednesday morning. Al-Akhbar reveals the unofficial story behind this strategic battle.

The last night in Qusayr was unlike any other the armed groups experienced in the embattled Syrian city, which has pitted regime forces supported by Hezbollah against thousands of dug-in opposition fighters.

During the day, the talk among the mainly Islamist and Salafi groups, who had turned Qusayr into a military base for the opposition, was of heroic steadfastness in the face of the invading army.

But by nightfall, all signs of activity in the remaining opposition pockets in the northern part of the city had ceased. There are rumors that under pressure, many betrayed their comrades and surrendered or fled, leaving them to fight a losing battle.

This was not however the picture in the early days of the fighting that took place around Qusayr. Opposition fighters’ morale was at its peak after hearing news that their comrades managed to ambush and kill 24 Hezbollah fighters on the very first day of clashes. In fact, in the first two days of fighting the Lebanese party paid a heavy price in terms of dead and injured.

While some opposition sources say that they managed to lure Hezbollah into a trap, thus inflicting such a high number of casualties, others attribute it to an underestimation of the fighters in the city and a hurried advance on the part of the regime and Hezbollah.

The latter group suggests that the regime’s initial plan to take Qusayr involved a quick attack from three directions, which it calculated would take the fighters by surprise and cause disarray in their ranks.

The armed groups, however, surprised Hezbollah with their fighting capabilities, showing a high level of skill and experience that many of them had gained in other jihad-related conflicts.

This forced the regime to reconsider its plan of attack, instead taking a slower approach that involved softening enemy positions with artillery and air strikes before sending in ground forces. The Syrian army also decided to take more time to surround the city from all directions in order to cut off any support from reaching the fighters.

As for the ambush version of the story, opposition sources claim that they set a trap for Hezbollah by luring them into the city on the basis that the armed groups were prepared to surrender, only to unleash a deadly surprise attack on the unsuspecting Lebanese fighters.

Opposition sources put it differently. They say they were engaged in negotiations with Hezbollah as the siege tightened around Qusayr to facilitate the exit of the remaining civilians in the city. They told the Lebanese party that they were prepared to surrender, but could not do so without a few face-saving, symbolic skirmishes.

As the first clashes progressed, it appeared as if the armed groups were abiding by the agreement, gradually withdrawing from some of their positions. But, having lured the Hezbollah fighters deep into their territory, the opposition fighters ambushed them, killing two dozen and injuring many more.

The fighting continued for another 16 days and the tables were slowly turned against the Qusayr fighters. After the fall of the city into government hands, the opposition admitted defeat and published the names of 431 fighters they said died in the battle.

More reliable opposition sources, however, put the number at over 1,200 dead and 1,000 injured. Al-Akhbar also learned that Hezbollah and government forces managed to capture around 1,000 fighters, including a number of female Chechen snipers and an Australian national, among others. As for Hezbollah, estimates are that it lost 93 fighters, with dozens more injured.

Ria Novosti (Russian press Agency , June 8, 2013)

A senior Russian foreign ministry official has responded to the United Nations’ decision not to accept Russian peacekeepers in the Golan Heights by reiterating that Russian troops can replace Austrian forces when they withdraw.“If the UN really is concerned by tensions in the Golan Heights, then sending a Russian contingent in is the solution,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov posted on his Twitter account on Saturday afternoon.

On Friday Russia offered to send its peacekeepers to the Golan Heights as part of a UN monitoring mission after Austria said it would withdraw its forces, citing an “unacceptable level of danger to its personnel.”

The UN News Center on Friday reported that two peacekeepers had been injured the previous day during “intense fighting in the area of separation monitored by the UN Disengagement Observer Force.”

It added that this area “has come under increasing threat and attacks in recent months as fighting between Syrian forces and anti-government groups continues unabated.”

The UN on Friday said that, although it welcomed Russia’s proposal, the peacekeeping agreements prevent it from accepting Russian troops, as permanent Security Council members are barred from taking part in the UN Disengagement Observer Force.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister responded to this by tweeting “And there’s no need to refer to 40-year-old limitations. The task of supporting peace and stability requires a different kind of political thinking.”

“This is a matter for the UN Security Council,” Gatilov added, in a third tweet on the issue.

On another hand, a Russian state television crew has come under fire from a Syrian rebel group at the Golan Heights in the Israel-Syria border, the Rossia 24 reported.